DOE Genomics Research Could Slash Costs of Ethanol and Hydrogen

DOE awarded $92 million for genomics research on October 3rd, and also
issued a comprehensive plan for a new generation of biology research
to help solve national energy and environmental challenges. Microbial
and biotechnology research promises solutions to major energy
challenges, including the production of ethanol and hydrogen.
Microbial enzymes could, for example, be used to improve the
manufacture of ethanol from cellulose by replacing the inefficient and
expensive processes used today. These enzymes could enable smaller-scale and more cost-effective and energy-efficient distributed
processing plants that could make cellulose-based ethanol cost
competitive with oil-based gasoline. According to DOE, thousands of
microbial species have biochemical processes that are of potential use
for this and other energy applications. The DOE plan begins by
focusing on key proof-of-principle experiments on complex energy and
environmental systems. See the DOE press releases on the
award and the
comprehensive plan.